Jenna Ladd | November 7, 2017

There was standing room only at the Iowa City Climate Action Community Meeting on Thursday night.

The community meeting was organized by the city of Iowa City’s Climate Action Steering Committee, which was formed in June 2017 following President Trumps’ announcement that the U.S. would withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Since then, city council and the steering committee have committed Iowa City to the same goals outlined by the Paris Climate Accord: community-wide greenhouse gas reduction goals of 26-28% by the year 2025 and 80% by 2050, where 2005 emissions levels serve as a baseline.

Representatives from the environmental consulting firm Elevate Energy presented attendees with possible climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in five categories: energy, waste, transportation, adaptation, and other, at five stations around the Iowa City Public Library’s meeting room A. Residents were invited to visit each station and vote for those strategies they thought would be useful to Iowa City and those strategies they felt they could help to implement.

Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator for the city, opened the community meeting. She said, “We want to ensure the benefits for all members of our community, and we want to be sure to have equitable solutions to these problems.”

To that end, the steering committee plans to send a city-wide survey by mail in December to residents that are unable to attend any of the initiative’s community meetings.

In partnership with Elevate Energy, the steering committee will put together a concise report of community input and cost-benefit analysis that will inform the first draft of Iowa City’s climate action plan, due out in February. After a final community input meeting planned for April 26, the steering community will present their completed Climate Action and Adaptation Plan to city council in May 2018.